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Don’t show that anymore
Fortnite has been removed from the App Store and Google Play Store.
Epic retaliated by suing any of the companies. It’s looking for cash from any of the companies, but only to repeal what Epic considers to be the monopoly practices of companies. And that comes at a time when Europe and the United States are examining the strength of Apple, Google and other tech giants.
Fortnite is a loose game, which means it’s loose to download and Epic makes cash from in-game acquisitions. Players can purchase V-Bucks, the in-game currency, which are used to purchase new costumes, weapons and masks. It’s an incredibly successful business model. Fortnite generated $4.2 billion in 2018 and 2019.
But Epic never approved the 30% reduction taken through Apple and Google in their respective app stories. Therefore, it has established a direct payment formula that allows players to buy less expensive V-Bucks Epic, passing through Apple and Google. By purchasing 1000 V-Bucks, players had the option to pay $9.99 through the App Store or $7.99 Epic.
Epic gave players the ability to pay directly, which through the app and Play Stores.
Apple didn’t have that, so it got rid of Fortnite from the App Store. Google tracked it hours later, Android players can still download the game directly through Epic, and if you’ve already downloaded it on iOS, you can still download it again (you may not be able to update it or play it in a new version). stations).
That’s right.
Epic filed a lawsuit against Apple in the Northern District Court on Thursday, accusing Apple of anti-competitive practices for app distribution and app payments. He emphasizes that he is not looking for a refund or a special remedy from Apple, but that Apple is reviewing its anti-competitive practices and allowing “fair competition”.
“To succeed in iOS users,” reads in the Epic folder, “Apple forces developers to settle for Apple’s illegal terms and situations in their developer agreement and to comply with Apple App Store review guidelines, adding the requirement that iOS developers distribute their apps through the app. Store. This contractual provision illegally excludes the market from distributing iOS programs to competition and maintains Apple’s monopoly.”
The presentation argues that Apple, by charging 30% of the fees to publishers, takes 10 times more than corporations like “PayPal, Stripe, Square or Braintree, which rate payment processing rates of about 3%.”
Apple’s complete response, in which they claimed that the App Store is an ecosystem that developers and creates a point playing field, is below.
“Epic Games has had the misfortune to violate App Store rules that also apply to all developers and are designed to ensure some in-store safety for our users. As a result, your Fortnite app was removed from the store. Epic has activated a feature in is that it has not been reviewed or approved through Apple, and they did so with the explicit goal of violating App Store rules related to invoices through the app that apply to each and every developer who sells virtual goods or services.
Epic has apps in the App Store for a decade and has benefited from the App Store ecosystem, adding the tools, testing, and distribution that Apple provides to all developers. Epic has freely accepted the terms and rules of the App Store and we are pleased to have built such a successful business in the App Store. The fact that their business interests now lead them to press for a special agreement does not replace the fact that those rules create a game box of points for all developers and make the store safe for all users. We’ll do everything we can to paint those violations with Epic so they can return Fortnite to the App Store. “
The lawsuit intensified on August 17, when Epic said in a court case that Apple was threatening to ban the Unreal Engine code that Epic grants to other game developers. This would involve dozens of applications, adding the battlefields of PlayerUnknown, Fortnite’s competitor.
“Not content with cutting Fortnite from the App Store, Apple is attacking all of Epic’s business in unrelated areas,” Epic said in his archive. “If the Unreal Engine no longer works with Apple platforms, software developers who use it will be forced to use alternatives.”
Apple retaliated on Friday, August 21, releasing a cache of emails between Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Apple, which looked like the Fortnite manufacturer was looking for special treatment. Specifically, Epic sought to manage a competing app store and procedural bills themselves rather than relying on Apple’s App Store and its integrated purchasing system, which charges up to 30% of all sales made on an iOS app.
“Sweeney expressly stated that his proposed amendments would directly violate several terms of the agreements between Epic and Apple. Sweeney stated that Epic might not put his proposal into effect unless the agreements between Epic and Apple were changed,” Phil Schiller, an Apple member and former global marketing chief, said in court. “Apple has never allowed this,” Apple said in its file. “We firmly believe that these regulations are important to the adequacy of Apple’s platform and provide huge benefits for consumers and developers.”
Alongside the trial, Epic also released a video that parodied Apple’s 1984 ad. Apple’s announcement, published in 1983, promoted the upcoming release of Macintosh, up to the then-rooted IBM brand. The Epic video indicates that Apple has the industry’s new Big Brother, an incredibly strong and dominant entity.
This is anything that Epic exhibits more aggressively in his disguise. “Apple has become what it once mocked: the monster looking for markets, blocks festivals and stifling innovation. Apple is bigger, more powerful, more ingrained and more pernicious than the monopolies of yesteryear. With a market capitalization of approximately $2 trillion, Apple length and success in far exceeding those of any technology monopoly in history.”
Hell.
Epic is also suing Google. Epic pursued its lawsuit against Apple a few hours later with a similar lawsuit opposed to Google. Its basis is the same as Apple’s: illegally anti-competitive practices similar to the distribution of programs and payments similar to programs.
“Google acquired Android’s mobile operational formula more than a decade ago, promising over time that Android would be the basis of an open eco-formula” in which industry players can simply innovate and compete freely without unnecessary restrictions,” the dossier reads. , Google has intentionally closed and formulated the Android eco-formula to the competition, breaking the promises it had made. Google’s anti-competitive habit is now doomed by regulators around the world.”
The lawsuit argues that Android bureaucracy is an effective monopoly for phone manufacturers, such as Samsung, LG and Sony, who do not have a genuine option for Android for their devices. After achieving that monopoly, says Epic, Google limits the ability of corporations to distribute programs in a competition that competes with the Play Store.
“Epic’s delight with a [phone manufacturer], OnePlus, is illustrative,” the mix says. “Epic has come to an agreement with OnePlus to make Epic games available on their phones through an Epic Games app. The Epic Games app would have allowed users to seamlessly install and update Epic games, adding Fortnite, without the barriers imposed through Google’s Android operation. But Google forced OnePlus to break the deal, raising Google’s “special concern” that Epic has the ability to install and update mobile games while “bypassing the Google Play Store.”
Like Apple’s demand, Epic says it doesn’t need Google payment. “Instead, Epic is a court order that would keep Google’s promise damaged: an open and competitive Android ecosystem for all users and industry participants. That court order is much needed.”
Before Epic filed a complaint against Google, Google issued the following about its resolution to remove Fortnite from the Play Store:
“The open Android ecosystem allows developers to distribute apps through app stores. For game developers who choose to use the Play Store, we have consistent policies that are fair to developers and ensure store security for users. Although Fortnite is still available android, we can no longer have it on Play because it violates our rules. However, we are pleased to be able to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play.”
Epic is the first to complain about Google and Apple’s anti-competitive practices.
Google and Apple have already been accused of stifling their Android and iOS operating systems.
In 2018, the European Union fined Google $5 billion for monopolistic behavior, which included Google’s suite of apps, such as Chrome and Gmail, pre-installed on all Android devices. Spotify stated last year that Apple charged 30% for in-app purchases, such as Spotify Premium subscriptions, stifling the festival with Apple’s own apps, in this case Apple Music. In June, the EU launched an investigation into Apple’s App Store practices.
While the European Union has been more competitive in regulating the titans of the generation over the past decade, the United States is beginning to look at these giant corporations in the same way. Beyond July, Apple CEO Tim Cook participated in a Congressional hearing alongside Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg, ceo of Amazon, owner of Google Alphabet and Facebook respectively, in a historic antitrust hearing.
Speaking to Congress, Cook rejected the App Store’s leaning in favor of Apple’s own apps.
“After starting with 500 apps, the App Store now hosts more than 1.7 million apps, of which only 60 are Apple software,” Cook said. “Obviously, if Apple is a keeper, what you do is open the door more. We need to get as many apps as we can in the store, not save them.”
Ian Sherr of CNET contributed to this report.